Christmas tags for my friends.....

Once a month I meet with a group of friends. We call ourselves the Creators' Circle, and our leader is the very entertaining, very sweet April C. For our festive meeting in November, our group wanted to exchange something homemade with each other.....so, we decided to make Christmas Tags! It is fun to make things for my friends, but I really like the idea of giving them something that they can use. When I give gifts this year, I love that they will be adorned with little pieces of art made by my friends, and people I admire!!! Here is what I decided for my tags:





Products: Basic Grey paper, Hambly black frames, light blue vellum, snowflake ornaments (they are Ike 10 years old, so some of them are a little discolored...kinda adds a vintage feel), bakers twine, typewriter alpha stamp set, and woodgrain contact paper (for the fawn).

I wanted to make sure the tags were sturdy, so I added a thin piece of chipboard in between the two papers, and sewed them together. As a final touch, I used a small circle punch with the woodgrain contact paper, and then my crop-a-dile to punch a whole in the circle.....so there is a homemade binder ring on each side of the tag.....just makes it look nicer, I think :)

There is an extra tag sitting on my desk, just waiting to be placed in my art journal.....can't wait!!! You can see some of the other projects made by our Creators' Circle group here, and I would also recommend visiting their individual blogs for inspiration (well, two of them have blogs): Jane and Melanie.

Thanks for an awesome meeting girls! I heart the tags you made!!!

Today is my little sister's birthday!!!

She loves the Twilight books. This photo is from when we went on the Twilight Tour in Forks, WA this past summer. She put on Dr. Cullen's jacket, and blushed.....so precious!!! Isn't she beautiful?

She is growing up so fast!!! She also has "skills". Frisbee throwing skills. Wood widdleing skills. Short story writing skills. Drawing skills.....just to name a few :)

Here is a drawing she made for me this past summer, entitled "Daddy's Girl".



My sister Amber called me today, and told me she picked out some flowers to make a bouquet for our little sister's birthday. She dropped the bouquet off at her school!!! How great is that!!! I always loved picking up a bouquet of flowers from the school office, and carrying them around with me from class to class.....I know it will make her day special...

Happy Birthday Little Sis!!!

What's My Age Again?

The NEW challenge is up at The Pink Ninjas Challenge Blog, and there are some amazing layouts.....their girls create the coolest art!!!

I tried to think of what reminds me of my age the most, and I would have to say having a sister and brother that is so much younger than me does it.....I LOVE them so much!!! Here is my layout (and one of my favorite pics right now):





This was a really fun layout to put together.....It just "flowed" out of me.....I love it when that happens :)

For the background paper, I used the new Sassafras Lass (yummy). The waves I cut out of a sheet of Bo Bunny paper.....I added mica flake glitter to the top of some of the waves to make them look "frothy". To add a little texture, I folded the background paper in a few places, and sanded them, so the paper looked like it had been folded in my pocket for a while. Also, the photo is matted with an old sheet of music paper I tore out of a book, and I sewed strips of Hambly between it and the photo. The process is simple, but a little time consuming.....worth it, though.

Don't forget to check The Pink Ninjas Challenge Blog. Have a great day!!!

Ally's Circle Journal "Inspire Me"

Another circle journal for the Pink Pineapple Design Team. This page is for the amazing Ally, and her theme is "Inspire Me". What a great theme, right???

I find that there are so many things that inspire me.....but one of the biggest is nature, so I created this page with some of my favorite nature photos from the past summer. Honestly, how amazing are the pink Japanese Maple leaves! And how awesome is it to be walking through a thick forest, and see a single beam of sunlight streaming down into the branch of a tree!

I always try to add some texture to my creations, so for this project I splattered some magenta ink, layered some silver mesh behind the photos, used my sewing machine in a few places, and layered some white lace behind the Sassafras Lass trim. I also decided to made a homemade embellishment, so I used embroidery thread on white glittered felt to create an owl.....owls belong in trees.....and they are so beautiful!!!

Ally's art is always inspiring to me.....there is just something about the way she makes things.....you always find yourself excited!!! I hope my page for her is inspiring too!!!

Halloween Cards with Chocolate!

Early this week I spent the evening with my beautiful friend, Melanie, and made these lovelies:





It was a great night!!! We listened to Pandora, Melanie made a delicious dinner, we melted chocolate and made the cutest little ghosts and ghouls, ate chocolate and peanut butter ice cream, and created some fun Halloween cards.....I think we stayed up really late.....I highly recommend it!

As I am writing this it is Halloween night, and I can hear a party from across the road.....there is lots of loud music and laughing.....it sounds like they are having so much fun!!!.....I am loving it! Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

Gloria's Circle Journal & 50 Things I Love

Another fun circle journal for the Pink Pineapple Design Team Members....this is my page in Gloria's book:





This page was super easy to put together using the Sassafras Lass "Amplify" products......I added a little paint splatter, sewing, and decided to print my photo on regular printer paper to match! Gloria's theme is "50 things i love". I love sweets, so the felties were the perfect embellishment!!! I really enjoyed thinking about my list.....wonder how much it will change over time???

Enjoy The Little Things Minibook

This is a new minibook I made to hold some of the memories from my summer trip to WA.....I wanted something that could hold photos I took of all the moments, and little things that I wouldn't normally remember:



Since it is such a chunky minibook, I sewed this pouch to keep it safe...



...and here are some of the pages inside.....I used Sassafras Lass products, fabric, sewing, lots of stickels, and liquid pears, ribbon, and mixed my own handwriting with some sticker letters:



I decided to teach it as a class in November at Pink Pineapple Scrapbooks. Here are the details:

"Enjoy The Little Things Minibook"
Sunday, November 15th
1:30pm-4:30pm
$27.00

Please bring to class: scissors (that can cut through thick chipboard), fast drying craft glue (I used "The Ultimate Glue"), glue dots (mini & regular), pop-up foam squares, black fine tip sharpee, crop-a-dile, zyron 150 (or adhesive for ribbon), tape runner (or adhesive for paper), stickels (I used spiced marmalade, yellow, turquoise, & lime green), liquid pearls (I used ruby red), sanding block, and if you have it: a sewing machine, and 7 photos 2 inches wide or smaller, (so you can sew directly onto the photos).

Hair Accessory Swap & Green Grass

Ryan and I spent Saturday afternoon here:



.....on a patch of green grass at the La Jolla Cove...it was great...we read, chatted, ate some red vines...and even though the sun was pretty hot, there was a light mist, kinda like a thin fog, that you could feel in the air...and it kept us cool.....I like cool...

Today I finished these barretts:



The next swap I am hosting is a Hair Accessory Swap at Pink Pineapple Scrapbooks.

Sunday, November 15th
12:00pm-1:00pm
$15.00

You make 12 of the same hair accessories, embellished with at least one scrapbook item (barretts, ponytail holders, headbands, etc...) We will meet on Sunday, November 15th, and trade our projects with 11 other people, so you will leave with 12 different hair accessories!!! I plan on keeping some for myself, and saving the others for stocking stuffers! As a bonus, you will receive 2 gift boxes that will fit the smaller items, plus an extra hair accessory (one of the barretts shown above), both made by me. Plus, when we meet, I will take photos of everyones projects, and submit them to a magazine.

I am really excited for this swap...accessories add so much to an outfit, and make a great Christmas gift!!!

Here is another photo of ideas I found on Etsy:

There are so many talented people in this world, and Etsy is the perfect place to buy items handmade by them.....I can't wait to see what you come up with! See you in November!!!

"Journal A Week" Swap Pics!

This really was a fun swap!!! I am so inspired by all the different pages...here they are:

• Monday - Nely
• Tuesday - Gloria
• Wednesday - Denise
• Thursday - Krystie
• Friday - Ally
• Saturday - Karen
• Sunday - Amy
• Cover - Me

Today I submitted their beautiful artwork to Scrapbook Trends Magazine, and a couple different Sommerset Magazines.....Thanks for all your hard work girls, you each did an amazing job!!! Can't wait for the next one!

Today is a good day :)

I am relaxing at home, and finishing up some projects at a leisurely pace. One of the projects is a minibook class entitled "Enjoy The Little Things"......



These are my favorite socks....they were a gift around this time last year from my sweet friend, Gloria....they keep my feet cozy, and they make me smile!!! I think the little things are GREAT!!! Enjoy your day!

A Snowball Fight w/ Robots!!!

I created a new layout for the Pink Pineapple Scrapbooks Design Team. It is very simple, but kinda cute.....with a photo of my nephew making a gigantic snowball.....he is so adorable!!!





I used the backside of the Fancy Pants Paper "Rough & Tough Cards", Basic Grey Paper "Milk", Maya Road Robots, white paint, white pom-poms, black twine, and Making Memories "Great Escape Bamboo Alpha".

A Birdie Named Paisley

I made this little 3x3 canvas, for my lovely friend, April's birthday.....the colors are so calming.....just like April:



I was inspired by Kris for The Pink Ninjas.....she did this blog post on her "Plushie Canvases".....they are so cute!!!!

Thanks, Kris & Happy Birthday, April!!!!!

"Autumn" Layout of The Week

.....is now for sale at Pink Pineapple Scrapbooks, while supplies last. For this layout, I decided to use those rich fall colors I love, and also added a little pink, just because it is such a happy color. Here is a sneak peek:

3 Things: What Kind of Ninja Are You?, Whip It, and Zoe Bell

1.) What kind of ninja are you??? I am so excited to say that I am a Pink Ninja!!!!

The Pink Ninjas have a new design team, and picked some of us to stay on for another turn.....I am so honored.....There are all sorts of amazing layouts over at their inspirational challenge blog! Here is my take on their current challenge:



***OK, so when I originally composed this post, I forgot to talk about my layout.....I used a couple new techniques that I had never tried before.....and of course I want to share :)

For the photo of me, I edited it in photoshop, and made my image only black.....the background is transparent. This allowed me to run the paper for the base of my scrapbook page through my printer, and VOILA.....my image is now printed on the paper. All I had to do was scrapbook around the printed image.

I also had a lot of fun with the title. Recently I took an online class from the talented Kara Haupt, and she taught us how to cut out our letters from paper. In addition to adding this technique to my page, I also sewed with pink thread onto a piece of each letter, for added texture. Enjoy!!!***



2.) Whip It!!! I just saw this amazing movie with my girlfriend, Gloria!!! I LOVED it!!!

It is Drew Barrymore's directorial deput, Ellen Page has the leading role, and it's about Roller Derby.....need I say more??? Well, maybe just a little more.....the underwater scene is probably one of my favorite scenes right now.....and I love how this movie helps you see your inner strength, and kicks a**!!!!




3.) Zoe Bell.

She probably one of the coolest icons for me in Hollywood.....if you don't know who she is check her out here. An amazing stunt women, she now has some roles as an actress.....my favorite of her so far, is when she plays herself in Quentin Tarantino's movie "Death Proof". She has a small role in "Whip It"....which brought on this ramble, and only made the movie that much better :)